A capacitor (originally known as a condenser) is a passive two-terminal electrical component used to

temporarily store electricalenergy in an electric field. The forms of practical capacitors vary widely, but most contain
at least two electrical conductors (plates) separated by a dielectric (i.e. an insulator that can store energy by
becoming polarized). Materials commonly used as dielectrics include glass, ceramic, plastic film, paper, mica,
and oxide layers.
Capacitors are widely used as parts of electrical circuits in many common electrical devices. Unlike
a resistor, an ideal capacitor does not dissipate energy. Instead, a capacitor stores energy in the form of
an electrostatic field between its plates.

Function

In general capacitor has many function in electronic circuit, such as capacitor has functions as a
1.filter in power supply circuit,
2. passing alternating current (AC),
3.blocking direct current (DC), and
4.can be used as a frequency generator in the oscillator circuit.

TYPES
Below is a list of the various types of capacitors, as we go over the characteristics that make them up:
Aluminum Capacitors
Aluminum Capacitors are capacitors that are composed of two rolled up strips of aluminum foil with a strip of
absorbent paper between them which is soaked in an electrolyte solution- all this being sealed in a can.
Tantalum Capacitors
Tantalum Capacitors are capacitors that are made of tantalum pentoxide.
Tantalum capacitors, just like aluminum, are electrolytic capacitors, which means they are polarized. Their main
advantages (especially over aluminum capacitors) is that they are smaller, lighter, and more stable.
Ceramic Capacitors
Ceramic capacitors are capacitors that are composed of materials such as titanium acid barium as its dielectric.
Together with electrolytics, they are the most widely used capacitor around.
Ceramic capacitors have high capacitance values for their size. They are made in the range
Polyester Capacitors
Polyester capacitors are capacitors composed of metal plates with polyester film between them, or a metallised film
is deposited on the insulator.Compared with most other types, polyester capacitors have high capacitance per unit
volume
Polypropylene Capacitors

Polypropylene capacitors are capacitors that have a dielectric that is made of polypropylene film.polypropylene
capacitors are used when a better tolerance is needed than what a polyester capacitor can provide. Polypropylene
capacitors also have high isolation resistance.
Polystyrene Capacitors
Polystyrene capacitors are capacitors that have a dielectric made up of polystyrene.One of their disadvantages are
they are constructed like a coil inside, so they are not suitable for high-frequency applications. (This is because coils
create inductance, and inductance blocks high-frequency signals from passing through.)
Polycarbonate Capacitors
Polycarbonate capacitors are capacitors that have a polycarbonate dielectricThey're advantageous in the area that
they have fairly good temperature coefficients, so they don't vary much with changes in temperature. This makes
them preferred to polyester capacitors. They are disadvantageous in that they have fairly high tolerance levels, 5%
and 10%, making them not so great for high-precision applications.
Silver Mica Capacitors
Silver Mica Capacitors are capacitors that are made from depositing a thin layer of silver on a mica dielectric.Silver
Mica Capacitors are very stable with respect to time.
Paper Capacitor
Paper capacitors are capacitors that are made of flat thin strips of metal foil conductors separated by a dielectric of
waxed paper.
.

Charging & Discharging a Capacitor

If the circuit below is set up we can examine the charging and discharging
characteristics of a capacitor when it is connected in series with a resistor across a
10 V D.C. supply.

CHARGING
The switch is initially open (down) at t = 0, so that the power supply is shortcircuited. At time t = 0.1 s (see Graph 1) the switch is pushed up to the position
shown below and current begins to flow whilst the capacitor is charging. The value
of the resistor in series with the capacitor controls the charge per second (current)
that can flow on to the plates of the capacitor.

Conventional
current flow
during chargeup

As the charge on the plates of the capacitor builds, the electrostatic repulsion of the
charges tends to slow down and then stop any further build up of charge. The
capacitor then "stores" charge until the potential difference across its plates is the
same voltage as the potential difference of the power supply, in this case 10 V.

The time constant, , is the time (in seconds) that it takes for the capacitor to
charge to 63% of the applied voltage. It can also be calculated by multiplying the
resistance of the series resistor (in ) by the capacitance of the capacitor (in farad).

The time constant, as calculated from the graph is probably closer to 0.13 s.

Note that a capacitor is considered to be "fully-charged" (>99%) after five time

constants.

DISCHARGING
When the capacitor is fully charged current no longer flows through the resistor. If
we flick the switch again to short-circuit the power supply, the capacitor discharges
in the reverse direction, acting as a varying (decreasing) voltage supply that causes
current to flow in the opposite direction through the resistor. It discharges with the
same time constant that it charges up - if the resistor value remains the same.

Conventional
current flow
during
discharge

application
Energy storage[edit]

Energy storage capacitor for camera flashin a vintage Polaroid

A capacitor can store electric energy when it is connected to its charging circuit. And when it is
disconnected from its charging circuit, it can dissipate that stored energy, so it can be used like a
temporary battery. Capacitors are commonly used in electronic devices to maintain power supply
while batteries are being changed. (This prevents loss of information in volatile memory.)
Conventional electrostatic capacitors provide less than 360 joules per kilogram of energy density,
while capacitors using developing technology can provide more than 2.52 kilojoules per kilogram.[1]
In car audio systems, large capacitors store energy for the amplifier to use on demand.
An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) can be equipped with maintenance-free capacitors to
extend service life.[2]

Pulsed power and weapons[edit]

Groups of large, specially constructed, low-inductance high-voltage capacitors (capacitor banks) are
used to supply huge pulses of current for many pulsed power applications. These
include electromagnetic forming, Marx generators, pulsed lasers (especially TEA lasers), pulse
forming networks, fusion research, and particle accelerators.
Large capacitor banks (reservoirs) are used as energy sources for the exploding-bridgewire
detonators or slapper detonators in nuclear weapons and other specialty weapons. Experimental
work is under way using banks of capacitors as power sources for electromagnetic armour and
electromagnetic railguns or coilguns.

Power conditioning[edit]
Reservoir capacitors are used in power supplies where they smooth the output of a full or half
wave rectifier. They can also be used in charge pump circuits as the energy storage element in the
generation of higher voltages than the input voltage.
Capacitors are connected in parallel with the DC power circuits of most electronic devices to smooth
current fluctuations for signal or control circuits. Audio equipment, for example, uses several
capacitors in this way, to shunt away power line hum before it gets into the signal circuitry. The
capacitors act as a local reserve for the DC power source, and bypass AC currents from the power
supply. This is used in car audio applications, when a stiffening capacitor compensates for the
inductance and resistance of the leads to the lead-acid car battery.

Power factor correction[edit]

In electric power distribution, capacitors are used for power factor correction. Such capacitors often
come as three capacitors connected as a three phase load. Usually, the values of these capacitors
are given not in farads but rather as a reactive power in volt-amperes reactive (VAr). The purpose is
to counteract inductive loading from devices likeelectric motors and transmission lines to make the
load appear to be mostly resistive. Individual motor or lamp loads may have capacitors for power
factor correction, or larger sets of capacitors (usually with automatic switching devices) may be
installed at a load center within a building or in a large utility substation. In high-voltage direct
currenttransmission systems, power factor correction capacitors may have tuning inductors to
suppress harmonic currents that would otherwise be injected into the AC power system.